Have you become more tolerant of names that fall outside your personal comfort zone? Or are your convictions about certain topics – spelling, gender, nicknames – growing stronger?

This week’s most newsworthy baby names run the gamut, from the truly unusual to the just-a-little-different. They remind me that I’ve become far more accepting over the years, appreciating the most common and the outlandish choices alike. After all, there’s a fellow called Barackin the White House and a challenger called Mitt, making it tough to argue that only people called Johnand Elizabethcan attain lofty positions of power and influence.